China, the world's biggest greenhouse emitter, will set up a national emissions trading scheme beginning in 2017. Our experts react to the announcement, made during President Xi Jinping's US state visit.

Climate diplomacy: in a another joint announcement from the US and China, president Xi Jinping committed to an emissions trading scheme in 2017.
EPA/Michael ReynoldsSeptember 26, 2015

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a landmark commitment on climate change, pledging to launch what will become the world's largest and most important emissions trading scheme when it begins in 2017.

You didn’t need a onesie to get hot under the collar about sharks in 2014.
AAP Image/Theron KirkmanDecember 29, 2014

Want a single word to sum up environmental affairs in 2014? Let’s go with “heated”. The year began with the realisation that 2013 was Australia’s hottest ever (and yes, it’s because of us), and ended with…

Handshakes as the Lima conference went into overtime to deliver an agreement. But there is still plenty of uncertainty about how next year’s Paris deal might look.
EPA/COP20December 15, 2014

The world is a step closer to a new climate agreement that will see all countries, not just developed ones, take action on greenhouse emissions after 2020. The two-week Lima climate summit, which ran two…

UN negotiators will struggle to balance the demands of countries that want binding emissions targets, and those that don’t.
EPA/Paolo AguilarDecember 12, 2014

Could the preoccupation with legally binding targets sink the next climate deal in Paris in 2015? In the run-up to this week’s Lima talks, widely seen as a precursor to the Paris summit, the Abbott government…

John Howard made sure he was facing the same way as other world leaders on climate policy, unlike the current Prime Minister.
AAP Image/David CroslingNovember 24, 2014

Throughout his prime-ministership, which ran from 1996 to 2007, John Howard’s perspective on climate change was informed by geopolitics more than science. The Kyoto Protocol, the key international climate…

In the last week the US and China announced goals to reduce emissions by 26-28% and cap emissions by 2030 respectively. India also signalled its aim to end coal imports within 2-3 years. These are telling…

To match the US, Australia would have to increase its emissions reduction target to 25% below 2000 levels.
AAP Image/Alan PorrittNovember 19, 2014

If you use the full Kyoto period — 1990 to 2020 — the US is minus 5% and Australia is almost exactly the same. Environment minister Greg Hunt, Radio National, November 17. *We and the United States are…

The joint US-China announcement on tackling climate change has been described as “historic”, a “turning point” and a “positive signal”. It has also been written off as insubstantive or even “hype”. The…

Some great news at last, as China and the US announce a secretly negotiated deal to reduce their carbon emissions. After years of seeming to get nowhere at all it looks like we have the beginnings of meaningful…

The shared stance by Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and Canada’s Stephen Harper is a formidable barrier to a global climate deal.
Office of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen HarperNovember 12, 2014

Having reached a landmark agreement with China this week to limit greenhouse gas emissions, US president Barack Obama heads to Australia for the G20 summit of economic superpowers. The China deal will…

US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands on the deal in Beijing.
EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNGNovember 12, 2014

The new US-China climate deal is a game-changer. The United States, the world’s biggest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, has pledged to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025 relative to 2005 levels, while…